***Official*** England in India

[DanielFullard]

Kabir Ali, plain and simple, cost us that match with some horrific bowling at key times.

 

[aussie]

If Kabir Ali could have bowled better England could have won since everyone else did well i thought. England should give Hoggard a chance in the next game to be honest.

 

[alternative]

Agree there aussie, hoggard deserves a chance after his excellent display at the test matches.. and i would like to see Jones out of the team to get Solanki in and Bell comming in for Shah.. that would give a bit more batting stability to the english team..

 

[Timewell]

Anderson and Ali were both leaking too many runs, but 1 of them had to come back to complete the missing overs.

Oh...I agree. But I feel Anderson would have been more likely to take a wicket than Kabir Ali. We've got to give Hoggy a run now - even if he is a "poor One Day" player.

 

[Choc888]

I'd say he has them no more than any other player but his batting this winter has not been good enough for us to win a series - no-one's batting has been good enough for us to win a series. People may have made runs but those runs have been in vain, to a certain extent, if we lose or fail to win the match.

does this mean he will be out of the team soon

 

[silentstriker]

India won their 14th consecutive match chasing, equaling the record set by West Indies who won 14 straight chases between February 1985 and November 1986.

Does that mean we are better than the west indies now?

I'd like to see something positive from you for a change, you seem to have ignored Raina's knock completely, he too is a middle-order bat you know. I can understand your feelings, but IMO you've gone into a little too pessimistic mode after that Mumbai debacle.

We will see, Rains did well. He hasn't gotten too many opportunities to bat. I'd like to see him bat a bit more in this series, as well as get a couple of chances to bowl (maybe when the series has been won).

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Loving it. Dhoni giving Raina a victory lap on the new bike.

Wish I'd seen that.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

1.Strauss
2.Shah
3.Bell
4.Pietersen
5.Solanki
6.Flintoff
7.Collingwood
8.Blackwell
9.Plunkett
10.Hoggard
11.Anderson

No 'keeper, oops. Prior/Jones for Shah. Bell to open if Jones plays.

 

[Sanz]

Wish I'd seen that.

There you go, 2nd and 1st Odi Victory rides.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

There you go, 2nd and 1st Odi Victory rides.

Cheers. This is what cricket is all about, riding motorbikes around the outfield (mind the wicket though!).

 

[silentstriker]

Why are Harbhajan and Raina riding the ***** seat?

 

[marc71178]

1.Strauss
2.Shah
3.Bell
4.Pietersen
5.Solanki
6.Flintoff
7.Collingwood
8.Blackwell
9.Plunkett
10.Hoggard
11.Anderson

No 'keeper, oops. Prior/Jones for Shah. Bell to open if Jones plays.

Still debateable that there's a keeper there!

 

[Nishant]

If Kabir Ali could have bowled better England could have won since everyone else did well i thought. England should give Hoggard a chance in the next game to be honest.

thats a bit harsh on kabir. i dont really think that anderson played too well either. he, too, far too expensive. In a indian fan's point of view, keep this combination. However, england should get rid of kabir for hoggard. perhaps swap anderson with Batty. in that way u have 3 pace bowlers and 2 spinners.

 

[Neil Pickup]

thats a bit harsh on kabir. i dont really think that anderson played too well either. he, too, far too expensive. In a indian fan's point of view, keep this combination. However, england should get rid of kabir for hoggard. perhaps swap anderson with Batty. in that way u have 3 pace bowlers and 2 spinners.

Or: three pace bowlers, two miscellaneous.

 

[open365]

No offence meant to India, but you have the tubbiest cricket team in the world, that Powar guy makes Blackwell look on the lean side.

Talking of Blackwell, how the hell is he bowling so well but batting so poorly? It's crazy, back home he's nothing more than a part time spinner.

 

[Barney Rubble]

No offence meant to India, but you have the tubbiest cricket team in the world, that Powar guy makes Blackwell look on the lean side.

Talking of Blackwell, how the hell is he bowling so well but batting so poorly? It's crazy, back home he's nothing more than a part time spinner.

That's a little harsh - when he plays List A cricket for Somerset he's a genuine all-rounder. He bats 6 or 7 and bowls the full 9 overs (or 8 as it will be this summer).

 

[silentstriker]

No offence meant to India, but you have the tubbiest cricket team in the world, that Powar guy makes Blackwell look on the lean side.

Talking of Blackwell, how the hell is he bowling so well but batting so poorly? It's crazy, back home he's nothing more than a part time spinner.

They aren't tubby, they are fat. Fat and lazy. Sehwag runs as fast as my grandmother with a walker.

Powar's body is round:

 

[grecian]

Yes please, come on I know he doesn't look the part, but Blackies bowling in the one-dayers on the sub-continent has been one of the few highlights of our rubbishy performance in this form of the game.

Kabir Ali,on the other hand

Personally I can think of all of these who should be in the World Cup squad ahead of him, from the fringe players.

Tremlett, Plunkett, Mahmood, Jones, Harmison, Lewis (Jon, even though Mick would do a better job too, if available), Wharf.......

Thats just realistically without going for the old-timers who would prolly do a better job, Caddick, Gough, Bicknell, Cork, Ealham, oh the list goes on

Read has to be recalled too, two useless wicketkeepers, whose batting in this form of the game is decidedly average.

For this series, I think we should persevere with Shah for now, in the long run hes a better bet then Solanki. Bell must play also, for one of the crap 'keepers, not sure which one. Hoggard for kabir Ali is a no-brainer.

 

[kvemuri]

They aren't tubby, they are fat. Fat and lazy. Sehwag runs as fast as my grandmother with a walker.

Powar's body is round:

Boy you have been on a pessimistic mood from the Mumbai test onwards, haven't you? time to move on...you can't keep mourning on that loss, done and dusted with. Ever heard Don Henley's Heart Of The Matter...might want to try that out

 

[silentstriker]

Boy you have been on a pessimistic mood from the Mumbai test onwards, haven't you? time to move on...you can't keep mourning on that loss, done and dusted with. Ever heard Don Henley's Heart Of The Matter...might want to try that out

I will get over it when we win a series in the Carribean. If we can't win a series in the Carribean (our first series victory outside the subcontinent in 15 years, outside of Zimbabwe), well then thats it for this team and it needs to be imploded from inside out.

Our top order is in shambles, out middle order is inconsistent, and our pace bowling is worse than your average county pace attack (especially overseas). Our lower order batting repeatedly bails us out, and at home, Kumble + Dravid saves a few matches. But I've had enough, if a cricketer can't even put enough work into his game to go excercise for a couple hours a day for his country, why should I support him? Yes, I'm looking at you Sehwag, you fat *******.

You are right, the Mumbai test was a real turning point for me. 15.2 overs. I support them, I argue for them against everyone who ranks India so low. But 15.2 overs, that is unforgivable for players with as much talent as they have.

And Dhoni still needs to die.


In any case, instead of ranting about it all day, I'll take a 'wait-and-see' approach until the WI tour.

/Sorry for the anger, I'm just going to cool off until the WI tour now.